Dragon Lagoon Beach

[Bloodedge]

After Kou hopped down from the tent, Miki did indeed take over with her Rune Magic. Kou stepped back to watch from a distance as she went to work in creating the bounded field. When it was all over, Kou stepped forward with his fist extended. "Noice!" he said to the blonde. He very much appreciated having such conventional abilities in the group, especially ones which also had combat benefits. It was the sort of thing he sought for himself, but didn't often see others select in video games of any sort. "Bright and early, then? Nothing says strong chicken like waking up to a swim in riptides~"

[Apollymi]

After she finished creating the bounded field she turned to find Kou with an arm extended and a fist in her direction. She met it with her own and grinned at the lad. "Noice!~" the lass said in return at the moments their fists met, Fiona hopped down Miki's arm and crossed onto Kou's still seeking affection in the way a pet would between its two favorite people. It seemed she had some recognition of the fact that tomorrows activities were about her, and she seemed to be excited about it. "Hai hai, sounds like a plan to me." Miki said heading inside, she chose a sleeping bag close to the right hand side, and settled in for the night. Hikari went along as well, cuddling herself between Miki and the tents right wall, leaving Miki closer to the middle than the edge. Whatever the case, the demi-human was content to sleep. "Oyasumi, Nii-san, Miki-nee!!~" she said as she settled in as well, content to sleep the night away. "Goodnight, Kou and Hikari-chan~" Miki managed. All the while Fiona was hopping around on Kou ready to settle down for the night as well, but incapable of probably expressing this aside from movements.

[Bloodedge]

"Ossu!" Kou said as his fist was met by Miki's. He joined the others in entering the tent, making an effort to once again pet Fiona with his finger on the way. Considering he was the last one to set foot in the tent, and the other spaces were presently filled, Kou lowered himself into the space on the left side of the tent. He shifted Fiona to the pillow, next to his head. "Oyasumi, minna," he said while closing his eyes.

The next morning, Kou stood at the edge of the shore, awaiting the moment they would officially begin Fiona's 'training' as it were. He took this time to look out onto the waters, finding the riptides to be something he considered just about the perfect challenge. What's more, there was just enough calm space in the sunken part of the ocean ahead for a bit of relaxation between areas of turmoil.

[Apollymi]

Fiona took her attention where she could get it, and seemed to be very pleased by the doting of her father figure. By the time she was moved to the pillow, she settled down like a bird roosting, and angled herself between Kou and Miki. Goodnights were spoken all around and then there was nothing but sleep for the group.

Miki awoke the next morning seemingly early, but hadn't managed to beat Kou to wakefulness. It seemed such a thing was only fated to happen once in their adventures. Whatever the case, she didn't wake by her own mechanization this day, instead their shared Filolial was gently pecking at the lass' nose trying to wake her. This would leave the very tip of the girl's nose a little red as she woke up. "Ano, I would have gotten up soon anyways. You could stand to be a bit more gentle. But... arigatou..." she managed reaching out for the little bird and giving it a firm pet. Sure of Miki's wakefulness Fiona took off at a run and headed to Kou on the shore. Miki in the meantime turned to a still sleeping Hikari and was met strangely with the lass' sleeping words. "Don't even think about it... I'm not waking up early so you guys can raise your chicken... go on without me..." she mumbled as she rolled up and hunkered down for what could potentially be a few more hours of sleep. A few minutes later, Miki would join stifling a gentle yawn but having put herself fully back together again. She'd be seen wearing her swimsuit with her jacket on and zipped covering most of her body but leaving her legs exposed. "Ohayou Gozaimasu..." she murmured. Having reached the same point on the shore, Fiona could be seen running between both of their legs as if excited by whatever was going on here. "Yare yare, she's full of energy..."

[Bloodedge]

After standing around gazing at the sea for some time, Kou was joined at the shore by none other than Fiona. When this occurred, Kou took a crouched position and placed his hand atop the chick's head. "Ohayou gozaimasu, Fio~" he said. Meanwhile, Miki approached as well. Kou was focused on Fiona, but the sound of the blonde's voice pulled his attention away. "Ohayou gozaimasu!" As he greeted Miki, he noticed Hikari was nowhere to be seen. This came as no surprise to Kou at all, and in fact, he began chuckling at the thought. "No Hikari? I'm guessing... it'll be about three hours. It's not like she was the one who wanted to go swimming or anything~"

[Apollymi]

At morning greetings Fiona seemed to be most pleased. She gained even more attention and seemed to revel in it. Miki approached alone and was greeted in return by Kou, who seemed to be aware of the lack of waking of Hikari and estimated a time on her actually getting up for the day. His tone was joking as if he was quite used to it, and he even made a joke about how she was the one most interested in swimming. "Hai hai, actually she said I shouldn't think about trying to wake her, and I took her at her word..." Miki said in a tone which was also joking. "To be fair, she did age like 5 years yesterday. I don't want to imagine what that could do to a girl~" Miki mentioned thoughtfully. At the very least, the girl had basically faced off against a whole dungeon alone in the previous day, and to Miki this entitled her to a bit of extra sleep. "Sou ka, so it seems like it's just us for a bit today... So, how do we feel about swimming today?" she said to Fiona as she reached out for her as well, giving her a happy pet. The black chick seemed to lavish in the extra attention and gave a firm movement of her head and body. "Kawaii!~ It seems like you're ready Fiona~" the lass said looking to Kou she was also ready to get this training going. As such she moved towards the water's edge with Fiona following behind. The little chicks first reactions to the water were about what one would expect. She ran out into the water a bit, then ran back. There was an intense look passing the creatures face as she seemed to try and make sense of this moment on her own. 'Alright, she's thinking. That's good.' Miki thought waiting to see what else would come from the initial exploration of the small black chick.

[Bloodedge]

"Sounds about like what I'd expect. Good choice not pushing it; she probably would have bashed your head in," Kou explained. In doing so, he rubbed the back of his head as if he could remember the sensation physically. Regardless, there was the matter of Fiona's training to address. Kou stepped out to the water's edge as Fiona tested the waters, and he was quite impressed by the discernment shown all of one day into the chick's lifespan. The male snickered again before taking another step forward, after which he dove into the open water. Only a few moments later, his head emerged with a sizable splash and a hair flip. "Whoo! Alright, let's see what we're workin' with!"

[Apollymi]

"Hai hai, I'll make sure I don't try and wake her then~" said Miki happily. To be fair she knew better than to try and wake a sleeping teen girl, if only because she was one herself and knew how cherished comfortable sleep was. Moving right along, as she trailed into the water, she got to watch as their little Filolial started thinking about what swimming would be like, before Miki could do it herself, Kou would be found diving into the water. The black chick stared, as the man was underwater for a short while and then her eyes widened as he broke the surface once more. Miki watched Kou for the moment he came back up to the water's surface, and something about the hair flip and general look of this moment she found unfathomably pleasant. Though she didn't speak on it. When she looked down by her ankles, Fiona was flapping excitedly as if she'd figured out something massive just by watching. Her excited little flaps would turn into adventure as she headed out further into the water. "Sou ka, nice job... Fiona!~ Gambatte!~" she said encouraging the small creature. Miki would in the meantime abandon her jacket and also adventure further out into the water.

And as she did this, Fiona was trying to make it to Kou. Each little movement across the water and flaps of her wings took her closer and closer. Eventually she got the hang of being atop the water a bit and used the speed of her wing flaps to carry her towards Kou were she aimed to perch upon his shoulder when she reached him. Ruffling her feathers and seeming to be a bit proud of herself.

[Bloodedge]

Kou used the time after his dive to watch Fiona's progression in her entry to swimming. The chick's brain processed things quickly enough that she was soon hopping into the water, using her wings to carry her across the surface on a journey toward where Kou stopped. Once there, the young Filolial perched atop the lad's shoulder as she had done on the previous day, and the reaction from Kou was the same petting finger he'd used so frequently thus far. "Ii ne! That's the kind of growth speed I wanted to see!" he cheered. Without further ado, Kou took a deep breath and held it, then immediately submerged himself in the water. Whether Fiona was left on the water's surface or not after this, he couldn't have the chick resting on his shoulder for too long without making more progress.

[Apollymi]

Fiona received more attention after reaching Kou this time. That same petting mechanism seemed to be enough to spur her into action. Strangely she wasn't allowed to simply rest with this notion. In fact, soon after she landed and was praised, Kou dove under water, leaving the little black chick atop the water looking a bit confused. She looked left and right but didn't find Kou, only Miki as she made her approach. This made her look at the blonde strangely, her chest puffing up and her wings flapping as she tried to convey her feelings at this random situation. Miki smiled at the little bird and motioned to herself. "Mite! You can do it!~" she said taking a deep breath and diving beneath the surface of the water as well. The little chick was left up top by herself and would follow along cautiously. First she stuck her head in with her eyes closed. Seeing nothing she came back up. The water rolled off her head and back and she managed to look the tiniest bit confused. As such, she tried it again, this time with her eyes open. She saw Miki and Kou beneath the water and began using her legs to force herself deeper until she reached them. Upon getting to one or both of them, she would flap her wings about a bit, getting a feel for movement beneath the water's surface. All the while Miki watched with a bit of pride in her visage. It was astonishing to her that something which had just been an egg in the previous day, was now thinking on its own and learning a new skill.

[Bloodedge]

Kou remained underwater, eyes open. From his place beneath the surface, he could see Fiona, as well as Miki, above. Distracted, he had a lingering gaze on the blonde for several seconds, until she inevitably descended as well. He then watched and waited to see if Fiona would join them, and lo, the Filolial chick did exactly that in a matter of moments. Kou nodded his approval to the chick during her approach, and began swimming around underwater in a circle. Said circle was one he swam in while rising until he reached the surface again, where he began moving toward the riptides not too far from their current location.

[Apollymi]

Fiona seemed to take the approval of her adventure very well. As Kou began swimming around in circles so did Miki, both of them working towards a rise back to the surface. Their trainee for the day seemed to watch this all with a determined look and also began to circle her way back up to the surface. Miki broke the water tossing her hair back and out of her face, in time to witness Fiona break the water at maximum speed popping out a couple of feet up in the air looking all too satisfied as she fell back towards the water's surface only to land with a gentle plop just a little below the surface. This would cause Miki to giggle. "Ara ara, that's a little too much, no?" she asked of the little bird as it popped back up and she rubbed the top of its head gently. Overall their particular pet seemed to run on affection and as Kou began swimming closer to the riptides, Miki did the same with a gentle back stroke in a manner most casual. "Sugoi! She's learning so fast!~" Miki commented pleasantly pleased by the black chick's progress. In the meantime, Fiona floated atop the surface using her wings to propel her body forwards keeping up with the leisurely strokes of Miki with ease, chirping happily along the way. 'Hm, I suppose they did say Filolials like to work, maybe they think of stuff like this as work and that's why they're easy to train?' Miki thought absently, still the smile on her face just didn't seem to go away, and she was more than content to continue their combined work to help this along.

[Bloodedge]

Kou grew closer and closer to one of many riptides, until he was just outside of its affected area. Fiona was indeed developing with great quickness, and Kou couldn't have been more pleased with the progress. As the Filolial grew closer to him, he became more prepared to make an additional movement. Miki was encroaching upon his location as well, warranting a nod in her direction first and foremost. "Alright... next move~" he said, following the statement by swimming directly into the riptide. Kou relinquished control right away, letting himself be tossed about by the rapid water as it carried him down and around. "Haha! It's like a water park; it's awesome!"

[Apollymi]

Soon enough, Miki also reached a riptide, having received a nod from Kou she knew exactly the sort of thing that would be happening next. All the while, Fiona seemed to be watching and waiting for the next big challenge. And what a challenge it was. Miki soon threw herself into the riptide also relinquishing control of her physical body, allowing herself to float around and down giving only a gentle nod to their pet bird. "Whoa!! This is pretty fun!~" she chimed as she disappeared as well. Fiona looked with cutting gaze, she was not to be left behind in such a situation. She swam towards the riptide finding it to be pulling her in. At first, she resisted a bit, trying to swim away... but having seen the smiles on the faces of her parental figures... she made the decision that she could simply go with it. Her tiny bird body was soon flung into the fray as well, and she was pulled down with the current of the riptide flapping her little wings to carry her further beyond.

[Bloodedge]

Around and around the members of this group went individually. As the first to enter the riptide, Kou became the first to exit far below the surface. He was flung closer to their starting point, which was about where he emerged after the wild ride he had. Another splash occurred as his head and upper torso erupted from the water, and he proceeded to look around and await the appearance of the other two. "Wow, that's great! She's gonna be jealous when she finds out how much fun everything was without her~" the lad spoke to himself, specifically in reference to the demi-human who remained asleep in the tent.